Hajipur rapist-killer gets gallows

Nalgonda: There was joyous atmosphere outside the court of first additional district judge and judge for POCSO cases in Nalgonda as he pronounced the judgement of death by hanging of Marri Srinivas Reddy in the sensational rape and murder case of three young girls in Bommalaramaram mandal in Hajipur.

Judge SVV Nath Reddy on Thursday pronounced judgment after continuous and prolonged trial of hearing 101 witnesses for 42 days. The judgement invited big applause from all communities and family members of the victims in particular.

By the time Srinivasa Reddy was produced in the court, the Court Hall was packed with villagers and the victims' family members who had come from Hajipur for the hearing and were waiting eagerly for the judgement which was pronounced in the afternoon.

The Judge then explained that he was proven guilty in the crime and asked if he had to say anything in his defence. Reddy said he was not guilty and alleged that he was wrongly framed.

He also mentioned about his parents who need to be taken care of and recalled how his house was set on fire by villagers.

Special Public Prosecutor Chandrashekhar, who was brought in to argue the case, sought capital punishment for the accused during his arguments before the First Additional District Magistrate's court on January 6th and said that capital punishment was required for the safety of society.

Even as the judge read out the judgement there was no remorse on his face.

It may be recalled that the accused had trapped his victims by offering lift on his stolen bike, raped, killed and buried their bodies in an abandoned agricultural well in Hajipur.

The issue came to light when police started probing the case of a missing girl Sravanthi (name changed) who was a class IX student on April 26 last year.

Two days later the police found her school bag near an abandoned well. When they checked the well, they found her body.

The post-mortem report of the girl revealed that she was raped and killed. As police intensified the probe, they found another skeletal remains, which was of a degree student.

During investigation, the police also discovered the skeletal remains suspected to be that of a degree student of the same village who had gone missing on March 15. Her body was identified based on the Aadhaar found inside her bag.

The police then arrested Srinivas Reddy who later confessed to his crime. Reddy was lodged in the Warangal Central Jail and charge-sheets before the POCSO court in Nalgonda were filed in August last year. The trial was completed in 90 days.